U.S.-led coalition airstrike destroys IS-held bank in Mosul, Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State conducted an airstrike Monday on a bank held by the militants in Mosul, Iraq, destroying millions in funds.

A U.S. official told reporters coalition aircraft dropped two 2,000-pound bombs on the position, destroying it and incinerating millions of dollars within.

The U.S. Department of Defense released a battle damage assessment Tuesday indicating coalition aircraft conducted eight airstrikes near Mosul, including against what it referred to as an IS "cash distribution center."

Also struck were two separate IS tactical units, as well as two control-and-control nodes, a vehicle and 20 fighting positions used by the militants.

The strike comes amid Operation Tidal Wave 2, a coalition effort targeting IS revenue through airstrikes against the group's oil infrastructure, which nets large amounts of black market funding for military activities.

Adam Szubin, the U.S. Treasury's acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said IS funding is difficult to constrain since the group "derives a relatively small share of its funding from donors abroad" and rather "generates wealth from economic activity within the territory it controls."

Still, Szubin expressed optimism about Tidal Wave 2. "We believe these airstrikes are markedly degrading one of [IS]'s most important sources of funding," he said last month.

On Nov. 22, the coalition said it destroyed more than 280 IS oil trucks while conducting airstrikes in Syria's al-Hasakah province.

The Monday strike occurred as IS militants are suffering a series of reversals in Iraq, including the losses of Sinjar in November and most of Ramadi in late December.